Jonathan Golfman '03 is VP, Head of Film Business & Legal Affairs at Media Rights Capital. "You need to find your way, and you may need to make sacrifices. But it's worth it to do what you love doing."

Field Clinics

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Cardozo's Field Clinics program sends teams of students to work in New York City law offices, representing clients and gaining valuable experience.

Students who participate in Field Clinics work in law practices around New York with a supervising attorney.

Cardozo’s Field Clinics provide important real-world experiences that allow students to build connections within the New York City legal community.

Cardozo field clinics provide students with real-world experience in partnership with many leading New York and New Jersey law offices. On the vanguard of legal education, field clinics build on Cardozo’s innovative clinical history and dedication to social justice. They are overseen by Rebecca Rosenfeld, director of the Externship Program.

The New York region is home to a vast array of legal enterprises, and Cardozo’s field clinics offer students a working connection to major legal institutions. Field clinics help students who are eager for real-world experience gain an edge in a legal landscape in which employers expect graduates to be practice-ready. At the forefront of legal education, they enable students to work collaboratively in a focused area of law with accomplished, experienced practitioners who provide intensive instruction and supervision. Students work in law offices while at the same time attending seminars taught by their supervising attorneys. This combination of practical and theoretical skills can be transformative.

Host organizations are selected for cutting-edge excellence in their area of practice and for a devotion to teaching. Students are matched by interest and experience with dynamic nonprofit and government law offices, where they work part-time for a semester or year. Students develop powerful advocacy and critical-thinking skills by assisting with impact litigation, prosecuting and defending their own cases, drafting and commenting on legislation, helping formulate policy initiatives, and engaging in rigorous research, writing and legal analysis.